As most of you are probably aware, baseball will not be an Olympic sport in 2012 and 2016 doesn’t look promising. So, this year’s Summer Games may be the last to include America’s pastime, but it just so happens that the Rangers have two players representing their respective countries.

Catcher Taylor Teagarden left Triple-A Oklahoma to play for Team USA while catcher Emerson Frostad left Double-A Frisco to play for Team Canada. The Olympic Baseball schedule gets underway on Aug. 13.

For those of you interested in the full Olympic Baseball schedule, check it out.

Speaking of enjoying it while it lasts…

Justin Smoak and Robbie Ross – Texas’ top two overall picks in the First-Year Player Draft –  have less than five days left to sign with the Rangers.

Ross, a left-handed pitcher, sounded pretty confident that he would eventually get his $1.5 million signing bonus, while calls to the Smoak residence weren’t returned, so the switch-hitting first baseman may be in a position where he really can’t discuss his situation.

Smoak would be a senior at the University of South Carolina if he doesn’t sign and Ross would be a freshman at the University of Kentucky.

General manager Jon Daniels was measured in his responses when discussing the status of the contract negotiations with Dustin Bledsoe, who represents both Smoak and Ross. But Daniels did squeeze in one deadpan joke.

When asked if it was any significance – positive or negative – that both players had the same representative, Daniels answered, “Not really, other than saving on the phone bill a little bit.”

Daniels did say that there were no huge obstacles to overcome in the negotiations, so it should just be a matter of matching up on dollars.

Daniels also went philosophical in explaining how Major League Baseball is such a “deadline driven industry.” As a result, for whatever reason, trades, arbitration and contract negotiations all tend to move along slowly until a deadline approaches.

This was the case last August when Texas signed first-round pick Blake Beavan on Aug. 14 and its third overall pick Julio Borbon on Aug. 15.

Then again, baseball isn’t alone. Deadlines seem to bring out the best in all of us, don’t they?

All teams must have their draft picks signed by midnight (ET) on Aug. 15. For more on Smoak, Ross, what Daniels had to say, and what former Rangers first-round picks think about when the right time to sign is, check the Rangers official site.

Since the last ‘Roundup’

-Brian Gordon (3-4) took two losses for Oklahoma. He has a 9.00 ERA in his last four starts.

-Despite an 0-for-5 day Saturday, Joaquin Arias is 9-for-23 in his last five games, collecting multiple hits in the other four games. Two of those nine hits were of the home run variety, giving him six on the season to go along with his .290 average.

-Doug Mathis pitched three scoreless innings on Sunday in his first rehab start with Oklahoma. On the disabled list since June 16 with inflammation in his right shoulder, Mathis allowed just two walks in the start and struck out four.

-Nelson Cruz received an injection in his strained left quad last week, but is still a week or so away from returning to action.

-John Mayberry Jr. continues to have a much more productive August after hitting .158 in July. In nine games this month, Mayberry is 12-for-38 (.316), despite a couple 0-for-4 days. However, he hasn’t gone deep since the first day of the month and his last RBI came the day after that.

-Max Ramirez remains on the disabled list with a hip flexor injury.

-Catcher Michael Pina has a five-game hitting streak for Frisco, going 7-for-18 during that span with three RBI and a stolen base. Pina was called up from High-A Bakersfield when Frostad left for the Olympics.

-Borbon has cooled off recently, going 4-for-20 in his last five games with one walk, no stolen bases and one caught stealing.

-After going 7-for-19 with a home run, three RBI and a stolen base in a four-game stretch from Aug. 2-6, Elvis Andrus has two hits in his last four games (.143), but has still swiped two bases during that span.

-Jose Vallejo is 7-for-21 in his last five games with a home run and a stolen base.

-Pitching on five day’s rest, Neftali Feliz took his first loss at Frisco, allowing two earned on three hits and two walks in four innings. Oh yeah, Feliz struck out eight batters. Feliz should be pitching on a mound near you as Frisco returns home on Aug. 13 for a six-game homestand.

-Kevin Millwood had a rehab start with Frisco on Sunday, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits and two walks while striking out six in a losing effort. He threw 42 of 74 pitches for strikes in four innings and will probably rejoin the Texas rotation Saturday.

—Shawn Shroyer